For many of us, warm, summer weather means more time spent outside enjoying the sun at the beach, by the pool or just taking in some fresh summer air. But unfortunately, our scalp and hair can suffer during the summer months because we’re exposure to so many different factors that are known to cause damage, for example, the sun’s UV and chlorine. There is nothing worse than enjoying your warm summer days only to be left with dry, damaged hair that feels almost like straw by the end. Although, many suffer from the impacts of summer on their hair, there are a few simple tips you can implement to support your healthiest scalp and hair throughout the entire season and the rest of the year. So, here is your checklist of healthy hair tips to help keep your scalp and hair healthy this summer.
Protect your hair before swimming
We all know that chlorine and lots of time in the pool can leave our hair feeling dry, damaged, stringy and matted. So, what can you do to help prevent this? Before you even head outside or step into a pool, you need to get into the habit of doing one healthy hair practice. And that is applying a hair oil or serum to your scalp and hair. Applying oil helps to coat your hair and helps to provide a protective layer to prevent chlorine and other chemicals from stripping your hair, helping you to maintain strong, hydrated hair even when swimming regularly.
Our Sozo Scalp & Hair Health Serum is an ultra-lightweight, silicone free, hydrating hair oil that you can apply to your hair before swimming. It’s formulated with argan oil, baobab seed oil, beetroot extract, grapeseed oil and more, which means our serum won’t just help to protect but it will also nourish your hair.
Always wash after swimming
What you do after swimming is just as important as what you do before. Rinsing and washing your hair after you’ve been in the pool or ocean is important so you can wash away any chlorine and stop it from drying out your hair. Plus, washing your hair with shampoo and a conditioner or mask, instead of simply rinsing with water, will also help to nourish, condition and hydrate your scalp and hair to avoid that post-swim dry hair feeling. Chlorine can strip your natural oils and contribute to hair colour changes, so we most definitely don’t want to leave our hair exposed to these chemicals after swimming.
Protect your hair from UV damage
The sun’s UV is known to cause damage in several different ways, ultimately leaving us with unhealthy and brittle hair. UV can cause hair colour changes, contribute to hair protein loss and cause your hair to be brittle, stiff and dry. Knowing this, we all need to avoid UV damage as much as possible, and there are many ways that you can easily protect both your scalp and hair from the sun. Some options include always wearing hats when out in direct sun exposure, staying in the shade as much as possible and, of course, using hair products formulated to help protect and prevent UV damage.
Our Sozo Hair Health range, specifically, has been formulated with baobab seed extract which is a naturally derived peptide from the seeds of the baobab tree. It offers a range of wonderful benefits, including the fact that it is promoted as an anti-ageing product, it will help to repair, moisturise and strengthen dry, damaged hair and it also helps to protect from UV damage. By washing and treating your hair with our shampoo, conditioner and hair mask consistently, you can support healthy, strong hair while still enjoying time in the sun (responsibly, of course).
In our Scalp & Hair Health Serum, we also use baobab oil which is known to be high in vitamins A, D, E and fatty acids which help to nourish and protect our hair. Because our serum contains baobab oil, it helps to protect hair from factors like UV by forming a sheath around the hair shaft, plus it also smooths and conditions to achieve softer, glossier hair. This is why applying oil, specifically our Scalp & Hair Health Serum, is not only an important step to implement before swimming to protect your hair from chlorine but to also protect it from the effects of the sun’s UV.
Commit to weekly prewash oiling treatments
When our scalp and hair are exposed to so many different elements that can cause damage, it is easy to develop a dry scalp and brittle hair, which is why protecting your hair, as we’ve just discussed, it so important. However, treating and deeply nourishing your hair is also essential to keep it hydrated, moisturised and conditioned. Prewash scalp and hair oiling treatments is one element in your haircare routine that can help you to actively treat and nourish. Formulated with macadamia oil, grapeseed oil, aloe, beetroot extract, rosemary oil, argan oil and more, our Scalp & Hair Health Serum can be applied generously to your scalp and hair at least 30 minutes before washing to help soothe, condition and reduce inflammation on your scalp, as well as increase shine, strengthen, hydrate and nourish your hair to avoid that dry, summer scalp and hair feeling. After allowing the goodness of all these ingredients to absorb for at least 30 minutes or for a couple of hours, all you have to do is wash as normal and double shampoo with our Sozo Hair Health Shampoo for a fresh, clean and healthy scalp. By doing prewash oil treatments at least once a week, or as needed, you’ll support strong, shiny, healthy hair.
Use a deeply nourishing hair mask treatment
Another hair treatment you can implement into your haircare routine to prevent the effects of summer is a weekly hair mask. Our Sozo Hair Health Mask is a rich and deeply nourishing treatment product that can be applied to be your scalp and hair to repair, strengthen, condition and hydrate, without making your hair feel heavy or greasy due to its lightweight formula. Our Australian made hair mask has been formulated with jojoba oil, argan oil, hyaluronic acid, finger extract, coconut oil and many other natural ingredients that are proven to target and enhance the health of your hair, as well as other feature ingredients, such as manuka honey, that are known to soothe and reduce inflammation on problematic scalps. To experience all these wonderful benefits firsthand, simply apply our hair mask generously in place of conditioner, after shampooing, at least once a week, then rinse thoroughly. Not only will you enjoy stronger, shinier, smoother and healthier hair throughout the entire year with our hair mask, but with its luxurious, natural coconut oil scent, you’ll be instantly reminded and transported to your favourite summer holiday.
Prevent breakage to wet hair
Our hair is known to be most fragile when wet, which means that we can cause a lot of unnecessary damage and breakage if we’re not intentional with our hair habits after washing. When getting out of the shower, some of the most common ways we can experience damage is by brushing our dripping wet hair or going to sleep with wet hair instead of taking the time to dry it off at night.
One of the easiest ways to dry your hair faster and limit this type of breakage is to use a microfibre hair towel. Because microfibre is known to be more absorbent and lightweight, you can comfortably wrap your hair and wear our Sozo Bamboo Microfibre Hair Towel after washing while you continue with your post-shower beauty and skincare routine. It is especially important to use a microfibre hair towel before you start brushing. Using a low heat setting on your blow drier is another easy and effective way to quickly dry your hair to prevent breakage as opposed to going to sleep when your hair is still wet.
Sleeping with wet hair is not only making you more susceptible to breakage, but it also increases your risk of developing scalp irritations and concerns. Wet hair on a damp pillow is known to encourage fungal infections, which can potentially lead to scalp concerns like dandruff and dermatitis.
Don’t forget to trim your hair
Booking in regular trims will help you to maintain strong healthy hair and prevent split ends from worsening. So don’t forget to get your hair cut regularly, especially during the summer when our ends can feel dry and damaged.
Support smoother hair with a microfibre towel
Using a microfibre hair towel after washing is important not only because you will prevent breakage, as we’ve already discussed, but microfibre is also known to cause less friction to the hair shaft compared to our standard cotton shower towel. This means we can support smoother hair, which we all want because the humid summer weather often causes increased frizz for many of us.
Avoid breakage when styling
On those hot summer days, it’s easy to turn to a slicked back ponytail, bun or some type of up do to cope with the extreme heat. But when our hair is already exposed to so many different forms of potential damage during the summer, we must be aware of how we style in order to ensure we’re not causing further breakage. When possible, avoid tight elastic hair ties and use soft scrunchies instead. Also be aware to not pull your hair back too tightly where you’re creating tension on your scalp and hair. You most certainly don’t have to live with your hair out 100% of the time, but we must be careful with the hairstyles we choose and, of course, to not use heated styling tools too frequently, making our hair more brittle and prone to breakage.
As we’ve already mentioned, brushing wet hair can easily cause damage and so can using the wrong brush to start with. You must have a detangling brush that gently untangle knots, whether your hair is wet or dry. Our Sozo Detangling Hairbrush has been intentionally designed to glide easily through your hair to limit breakage helping you maintain strong hair. Also, don’t forget about the importance of how you brush. To prevent damage, you want to start by brushing your ends in small sections first, then slowly work your way up to your roots.
Throughout the entire year, but especially during the summer, we are all exposed to many different factors that cause damage to our hair, as well as our scalp health. From being outside in the sun, to swimming in the pool regularly, there are endless opportunities for our hair to become dry, damaged and brittle. But with these healthy hair tips we’ve discussed and by implementing a few small but intentional hair habits in your haircare routine, you can protect, treat and nourish to maintain a healthy scalp and strong, shiny hair.
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